Bridgewater-Raritan’s game with Union Saturday night began as if it might be a repeat of last year without the 36-hour lightning that suspended the game from Friday to Sunday.

Farmer senior star back Jamauri Bogan was running like Lions Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, destined to spark a rout, just like last year’s season opener in a 48-7 win.

But things were somewhat different. The Panthers scored on their first play of the season and really never lost the momentum in the 27-13 win because of players like senior linebacker Jack Fanning.

Fanning was a force in slowing down Bogan, limited to 32 yards in the second half after running for 162 and two long scores in the first as the Panthers took over the last 24 minutes at Basilone Field.

Fanning is this week’s Courier News Football Player of the Week.

The three-year starter had 13 tackles (eight solos, five assists) and 21⁄5 sacks. His first dropped senior quarterback Diego Rios for an eight-yard loss after the Farmers had driven to the Panthers 22 on the game’s first series.

“It was the ability of our linebackers to play their assignments as the game went along that limited (Bogan) to any big gains,” said B-R coach Scott Bray. “The mantra was ‘do your job and we will be solid.’ In the beginning we played outside of our assignments that led to his big runs, but after that we settled in and did what we had to do. Jack was the key to orchestrating this.”